10 questions: Anita Rossiter

I’m grateful to be surrounded by many inspirational people both personally and professionally. I had the great fortune of finding myself surrounded by 11 of the most amazing women all walking their own journeys to health and happiness from all around the country two years ago through nutritionist Cyndi OMeara.

2. What are you reading and how do you like to relax and wind down at the weekend?

This makes me laugh, it would be easier to ask what I’m not reading. I have a very large pile of books with bookmarks mostly health related. However, I’m currently enjoying Start With Why by Simon Sinek and The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer. Sunday in our house is family day so I love to relax in the company of my husband, children and pets.

3. What thing couldn’t you live without and what are your three favourite things?

The thing I couldn’t live without is my amazingly patient and supportive husband. My three favourite things, that’s easy, my three little girls.

4. If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be and what would you eat?

I would love to invite Temple Grandin to dinner. She is a famous autism and animal advocate who has a remarkable way of looking at the world. In relation to diet, she believes the ‘‘Western diet is bad’’ and that ‘‘diet is the single most important thing for parents to try.’’ Her words mirror my thoughts so we would be eating a lovely meal consisting of whole foods with meat sourced from humanely treated animals.

5. What do you know now that you wish you had known before?

I wish I knew 20 years ago what I now know about the power of food. I have decades of healing ahead of me but although I didn’t know this before children,

I hope that I can raise them to question their food sources and make good choices.

6. If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for?

My wish in life is for my children to live in a safe happy world where humans respect one another as well as creatures. If I could wave a magic wand I would stop the unnecessary destruction of our world for the sake of greed where our beautiful animals are approaching extinction in front of our eyes.

7. Do you have a favourite place?

I’ve been chronically infected by the travel bug so many places around the world hold special memories. London will always be special because it’s where my husband and I started our life together and it is somewhere we can’t wait to take the children one day.

8. Most embarrassing moment?

Showing the kids how fast I could run in a timed sprint at a science museum.

Unfortunately I took off and tripped over my own feet and launched metres ahead and landed with a thud. I lost a lot of skin on my arms and nose.

9. What has been a defining moment in your life?

My daughter was three-and-a-half and had suffered infections her whole life. I made a phone call to a medical specialist in Melbourne and the receptionist asked me if we had ever thought about the role of diet as potentially causing her problems. This was the moment the penny dropped, it sounds insignificant but this question was the turning point in our family’s health.

10. What do you daydream about?

I would love to branch out and reach as many people as I can and help educate and inspire them about nutrition and their health. Personally I would love to live on land surrounded by my family and lots of animals and vegies and be self sufficient. My itchy feet however require a clause in this which would see us travel somewhere new every 12 weeks.